Legislative primary ballot loaded with challengers to incumbents

Published 6:27 pm, Saturday, May 12, 2012

Photo: Laura Skelding

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Ted Cruz, left, and Lt. Gov. David Dewurst are vying to succeed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in a race in which Dewhurst is trying to extol his conservative credentials while Cruz is trying to brand him as not a true conservative. less

Ted Cruz, left, and Lt. Gov. David Dewurst are vying to succeed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in a race in which Dewhurst is trying to extol his conservative credentials while Cruz is trying to brand him as ... more

Photo: Laura Skelding

Legislative primary ballot loaded with challengers to incumbents

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AUSTIN - Texans unhappy with incumbent state legislators will get ample opportunity to find new voices to speak for them, starting with the May 29 primary when dozens of experienced lawmakers face opposition.

Most of the action will be in the Republican primary with 70 contested state Senate and House races. Democrats have 20 contested legislative primaries - all involving state House races.

A large number of GOP incumbents face party challenges - six in the state Senate and 36 in the House, compared to 20 in the GOP primary two years ago.

Republican strategists attribute the large number of contested races to redistricting and general unrest among GOP voters.

"A lot of people are angry or unhappy with the direction of this country and that, combined with the continuing insurgency of the tea party, leads to a lot of it," said GOP consultant Eric Bearse. "They get involved in politics to try to make change. Even though sometimes their anger is directed at Washington, they'll file for office in Austin."

Republican campaign strategist Craig Murphy points to redistricting for the large number of GOP incumbents drawing primary opposition.

"The time to challenge an incumbent is when they are in a new district," Murphy said. "After they won that district once, it's going to be pretty hard to beat them."

Cruz vs. Dewhurst

Democratic consultant Harold Cook sees a different trend among Republicans.

"It will never be too much for those tea partiers. It doesn't matter who you are. If you are a conservative Republican who gets elected and comes to Austin and then gets a couple years worth of voting records behind you, they will find something in your record and then they will claim that you are not a real conservative," Cook said. "It's hard to run against because the challengers don't have a record."

Exhibit A may be Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who is trying to fend off a fierce challenge from Ted Cruz for an open U.S. Senate seat. Dewhurst touts a conservative record while the tea party-backed Cruz, running for office for the first time, blasts him as anything but a true conservative.

Another factor in this year's legislative primaries is last year's legislative session, when lawmakers, without any Democratic support, cut $4 billion from what Texas schools would have received under existing law.

They also cut about $1.3 billion more from discretionary spending used for such programs as full-day pre-K, dropout prevention and teacher bonuses.

As a result, more than 25 current or past educators and school board members are running for the Legislature for the first time.

Texas Parent PAC is endorsing 27 primary candidates that Boyle said are fairly evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats.

Their candidates will get at least $500 and up to $10,000, in addition to the PAC's seal of approval that they can be counted on to support public education.

The Parent PAC, formed in 2005 out of frustration that Texas lawmakers were not adequately supporting public education, has 1,100 contributors, Boyle said.

Candidates who are making neighborhood block walks report that public education is the top issue.

"It's not just parents of school-age kids," Boyle said. "It's grandparents who have precious grandchildren in school."

Murphy, the GOP strategist, counters that illegal immigration is a much bigger issue for Republican voters than public education.

"It's often the very top issue that people care about and, of course, the economy," he said. "Education is always up there as an issue that people care about, but nothing special is happening on that issue in this round."

Murphy speculated that public education-related issues potentially could play a larger role in the November general elections when Democrats battle with Republicans.

Less change in Senate

House Republicans currently hold 102 of the 150 seats. Republicans also control 19 of the state Senate's 31 seats. Less change is anticipated in the Senate from the general election than in the House, where Republicans are expected to lose an undetermined number of seats.

"The way the maps were drawn, there really isn't an opportunity for a Senate pickup for Democrats, and the only opportunity for a Republican pickup is Wendy Davis," Democratic consultant Cook said about the Fort Worth incumbent Democratic state senator, who is fighting for re-election in a swing district.

Cook views San Antonio's GOP state senate contest between incumbent Jeff Wentworth and two GOP primary challengers as "the only serious Senate primary race with the exception of the open seats."